Saturday, December 11, 2010

Top 10 States People Are Fleeing - Yahoo! Real Estate: "'We're seeing one of the lowest mobility rates in a century,' says Nathaniel Karp, chief economist for banking firm BBVA Compass. Karp says the recession has forced many people to stay put because they are unable to sell their homes, cannot find jobs or are unwilling to relocate for work if it means sacrificing a partner's stable position.

The slowdown makes the question of who's moving and why even more significant than in years past. Using 2010 projections by Moody's Economy.com, Forbes ranked the states in which people are leaving faster than they are arriving. Economists report several overlapping trends that may be forcing people out of certain states as much as they are pulling them toward others.In Pictures: Top 10 States People Are FleeingIn Pictures: Top 10 States People Are Fleeing

At No.1 on our list, New York is expected to wave goodbye to 49,000 more people than it gains this year. The state has seen a steady loss of residents over the past five years, losing an average of 100,000 people per year. Karp explains that, because New York is a large state, it may report greater movement than others, but notes that population size is not the only reason residents are fleeing."

Left-Wing “Anti-People Billionaires” Guilt their Money Away | NewsReal Blog: "57 left-wing billionaires have agreed to join “[t]wo fanatically anti-people billionaires” Warren Buffet and Bill Gates in a guilt-fed Giving Pledge to “give” away half their fortunes before or after they die. Buffet and Gates do not seek to improve the lives of Americans in need, but rather to ease the guilt of wealthy leftists who view prosperity as social injustice. The entire campaign would be a nice gesture if not for the fact the billionaires in question are leftists donating their money to social justice-style causes seeking to eliminate wealth and job creation, as well as depopulating the earth leftists consider more important than human beings.

The Giving Pledge is nothing more than redistribution of wealth to leftist organizations encouraged by Buffet and Gates, two men who are “dedicated to population control in the Third World, and [a] disastrous effort to reduce the Earth’s population.”

Such actions are justified as helping the needy, but these “anti-people billionaires” are only helping themselves."

It seems that some of that Obama-Reid-Pelosi stimulus money, which was supposed to be used to help create jobs here at home, may be helping to stimulate the Chinese economy instead. This would be on top of the help that the Chinese would get competitively if Obama’s cap-and-trade proposals are ever enacted.

As reported by MSNBC, top Democratic fundraisers, union supporters and lobbyists with links to the Obama White House are behind a proposed wind farm in Texas that stands to get $450 million in stimulus money. This would be fairly routine but for the fact that A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese supplier of wind turbines, would operate the farm and its turbines would be built in China. The Chinese are also bringing some financing of their own to the project.

In other words, we will be helping to subsidize jobs in China with American taxpayer-supplied stimulus money and going into further debt to the Chinese at the same time."

The Feds Are Cultivating Their Own “Homegrown Terrorists” - COLORLINES: "The FBI caught another homegrown terrorist this week, except like many recent plots the agency has “uncovered,” the attack was a plant, a plan concocted by the FBI itself. It’s the latest in a growing number of terrorism plots that the FBI stirs up by infiltrating communities and helping to devise attack plans. The practice raises serious questions about the government’s implementation of it’s ongoing war on terror.

The recent case involves 21-year-old from Baltimore named Antonio Martinez, who’d reportedly converted to Islam, changed his name to Muhammad Hussain and planned to blow up a bomb outside a military recruitment center in Baltimore. None of the plot, however, existed before the FBI instigated it and Martinez had no contact with any real terrorist organization."

The C.L.C handed money to Abousfian Abdelrazik Friday, International Human Rights Day, claiming his rights are being violated.

Ottawa won't allow Abdelrazik to get a job, bank account or passport, which are all moves required by a U.N. resolution calling on countries to freeze the funds and financial assets of people on the list, and prevent them from travelling.

According to QMI Agency, he's on the no-fly list because the United Nations believes he has ties to al-Qaida, has attended terrorist training camps and was friends with millenium bomber Ahmed Ressam when they both lived in Montreal.

The U.S. government and courts in France also link him to Osama bin Laden's top advisor."

Irony alert: The unusually chilly global-warming summit

"The irony: As negotiators from nearly 200 countries met in Cancun to strategize ways to keep the planet from getting hotter, the temperature in the seaside Mexican city plunged to a 100-year record low of 54° F. Climate-change skeptics are gleefully calling Cancun's weather the latest example of the 'Gore Effect' — a plunge in temperature they say occurs wherever former Vice President Al Gore, now a Nobel Prize-winning environmental activist, makes a speech about the climate. Although Gore is not scheduled to speak in Cancun, 'it could be that the Gore Effect has announced his secret arrival,' jokes former NASA scientist Roy W. Spencer."

Friday, December 10, 2010

ThreatsWatch.Org: RapidRecon: Lost and Found: "There is reason to be concerned, actually, very concerned about a few aspects of this situation. It seems that a shipment of radioactive rods was misplaced by Federal Express. Even though 'officials' say there was 'little threat,' one of three containers of radioactive rods sent from Fargo, ND to Knoxville Tn. were misplaced when a shipping label went missing from the outer box.

The situation came to light when the company on the receiving end contacted Federal Express that they had not gotten the full shipment. While these were low yield rods used to calibrate CT scan machines, these types of materials could become the fuel needed by terrorists to pack a 'dirty bomb' that could spread serious amounts of radioactivity if detonated.

So the question is if it is time to tightly control shipments of any radioactive materials, even those used in medical applications? Shipments of hazardous materials are strictly controlled - - Regardless of existing provisions, radioactive materials for medical applications should be placed under tighter and more strict controls. Frankly, the shippers like Fed Ex need to be held accountable and ensure greater vigilance over any shipments like the one in question here."

Theirs is a closeted existence, free of the stresses of normal life. Charles's vast income from the Duchy of Lancaster relieves them of the need to work for money, though they try to make a few public appearances every week in support of good causes. And though we might envy their unearned wealth, most of us would find their lifestyle excruciatingly dull. Nothing much happens to disturb the routine of royal life.

But, for a few terrifying minutes on Thursday night, the couple were confronted by a section of the population who did not want to shake their hands or listen to their inconsequential small-talk. It appeared, fleetingly, as if the rioters on Regent Street actually intended to do them harm."

"Our position of course is that we don't believe it applies to Mr. Assange and that in any event he's entitled to First Amendment protection as publisher of Wikileaks and any prosecution under the Espionage Act would in my view be unconstitutional and puts at risk all media organizations in the U.S.," Assange's attorney Jennifer Robinson told ABC News.

Robinson said they're hearing from lawyers in the U.S. that an indictment of Assange could be imminent.

Clinton still working on debt - Ben Smith - POLITICO.com: "Hillary's campaign is so close to paying off the last of her debt, but she's not there yet. Will you consider helping her in this last phase by making a contribution to her campaign? If you enter by Thursday, December 16, you and a friend will have the chance to fly to New York to spend a day with me.

Full e-mail after the jump.

Dear xxx,

There is nothing I enjoy more than good conversation with good people. Everyday, my life and work are enriched by the people I meet, and that's why I'm sending you this special invitation.

Hillary's campaign is so close to paying off the last of her debt, but she's not there yet. Will you consider helping her in this last phase by making a contribution to her campaign? If you enter by Thursday, December 16, you and a friend will have the chance to fly to New York to spend a day with me."

The 10 deaths were in younger adults under 65 and associated with H1N1 swine flu. Most had underlying conditions but 'a small proportion' were healthy before being struck down by the virus, according to the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

Seasonal flu normally causes severe illness and death in the elderly. The H1N1 swine flu virus targets pregnant women, younger adults, and those with chronic conditions, making it a cause of particular alarm."

From Audacity to Animosity - WSJ.com: "We have not in our lifetimes seen a president in this position. He spent his first year losing the center, which elected him, and his second losing his base, which is supposed to provide his troops. There isn't much left to lose! Which may explain Tuesday's press conference.

President Obama was supposed to be announcing an important compromise, as he put it, on tax policy. Normally a president, having agreed with the opposition on something big, would go through certain expected motions. He would laud the specific virtues of the plan, show graciousness toward the negotiators on the other side—graciousness implies that you won—and refer respectfully to potential critics as people who'll surely come around once they are fully exposed to the deep merits of the plan.

Instead Mr. Obama said, essentially, that he hates the deal he just agreed to, hates the people he made the deal with, and hates even more the people who'll criticize it. His statement was startling in the breadth of its animosity. Republicans are 'hostage takers' who worship a 'holy grail' of 'tax cuts for the wealthy.' 'That seems to be their central economic doctrine.'"

Gas up $1 a gallon on Obama's watch - Washington Times: "Gas prices have risen $1 since just after President Obama took office in January 2009 and are now closing in on the $3 mark, prompting an evaluation of the administration's energy record and calls for the White House to open more U.S. land for oil exploration.

The average price per gallon across the U.S. hit $2.81 this week, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was up from $1.81 the week of Jan. 26, 2009, just after the inauguration, and marks the highest price since Oct. 20, 2008.

John B. Townsend II, a spokesman for AAA Mid-Atlantic, said price increases are a result of the cost of crude oil, thanks to a decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries not to raise production even as economic growth in countries such as Russia and China spurs more demand.

'From all indications, we're going to see $3 gas again this summer,' he said."

In a striking move, the Appropriations Committee late Wednesday attached a provision to a $1.1 trillion resolution to keep the government funded next year that would prevent Obama from spending any funds to try terrorism suspects in civilian court instead of military commissions.

The language would essentially prevent the closing of the detainee prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who conferences with Senate Democrats, launched a filibuster at 10:30 a.m. Friday against President Obama's tax cut compromise with congressional Republicans. He shows no sign of letting up. He has vowed to go as long as he can.

He's getting occasional help from other senators. Democrats Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Mary Landrieux of Louisiana have come to the floor to assist him. He also has a Twitter feed going where you can follow along."

The Treasury Department, in its regular budget monthly statement, said the government spent $150.4 billion than it collected in the second month of fiscal 2011.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a shortfall of $126.5 billion. November is traditionally a month for deficits.

The Treasury report, detailing the government's spending programs, prompted an economic research firm, Macroeconomic Advisers, to lift its forecast for economic growth from October through December by four-tenths of a percentage point, to 2.7%."

Former President Bill Clinton gave a statement after his meeting with President Obama about his tax compromise with the Republicans.

However, after his statement, Clinton began to call on and take questions from the press with Obama at his side. Obama leaves promptly after a few moments and said he had to see Michelle, as he was keeping her "waiting."

Her comments came as a Baltimore-area man was arrested for plotting to bomb a military recruitment center. Napolitano declined to comment on this incident specifically, deferring questions to the FBI but provided her assessment of the threats currently facing the homeland."

U.S. diplomats fear an increased spread of al-Qaida in North Africa, according to State Department cables recently released by Internet whistleblower Wikileaks.

An April 16, 2009, cable from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's office asked diplomats in North African embassies to investigate al-Qaida "links to weapons of mass destruction or related materials" and the "presence and activities of fighters returning from Iraq and Afghanistan." The document was part of an overall intelligence gathering directive aimed at countering terrorist groups, in particular al-Qaida of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

-

Obama skips debt commission meeting

Priorities, priorities….

From CNN

President Obama did not attend a White House meeting Thursday with members of his own debt commission, irking some of the Democrats on the panel who were expecting a high-level push from the commander-in-chief to show that its comprehensive deficit reduction plan is being taken seriously by the White House.

“He should have at least dropped by,” one Democratic member of the debt commission told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he wanted to speak more freely about the panel’s private meeting.

A second senior Democratic aide close to the panel added that commission members were miffed and privately believe the President did not attend because it would have been awkward “given the fact that he has just endorsed $900 billion in deficit spending” with the tax cut deal.
At his daily briefing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was asked about the President’s absence from the commission meeting and said Obama may have missed the commission meeting because he was attending a separate meeting with his Export Council around the same time.

Obama’s Emerging Enabling Act

The formal name of Adolf Hitler’s Enabling Act of 1933 was the Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation. It gave Hitler unobstructed and unprecedented power to impose his vision of Germany on the country.

﻿Long, long ago, in a world far, far away, philosopher and cultural critic George Santayana in 1905 noted that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”*

Have Americans learned from history? Have they any core knowledge of the past from which to draw wisdom, conclusions, and rational guidance? To judge by the record of the last half century – no. Perhaps a more pertinent question might be: Do they know history? Most Americans are feeble on their own history, having never encountered much of it except for the Howard Ziinn- or Bill Ayers- style of history, or the multiculturalist brand, never mind world history or ancient history. They have been dumbed down and rendered ignorant of their own past. The Punic Wars? The Gates of Vienna? The Council of Nicaea? Kristallnacht? These events may as well have occurred on a distant planet.

"To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it." --Thomas Jefferson

Government & Politics

Framing the Tax Debate

"Tax deal" is the buzz phrase of the week in Washington, as Barack Obama and congressional Republicans came to an agreement Monday on a two-year extension of current income tax rates for all Americans. Predictably, the Left went hysterical. House Democrats promptly held a voice vote to reject the compromise unless undisclosed changes are made to it, though the Senate began debate on a larded-up version of the proposal Thursday night with a test vote scheduled for Monday. As usual, the devil is in the details -- and, in this case, the definitions.

Obama, his fellow Democrats and their acolytes in the media continue to frame the debate in terms of tax "cuts" versus the budget deficit -- as if tax rates before 2001 were the natural order of things and to keep rates where they are is a "cut" that will increase the deficit. On the contrary, without the deal, everyone's taxes will rise by hundreds or even thousands of dollars next year. With the deal, no one's income taxes will be cut. In fact, some taxes will skyrocket. The estate (death) tax will be resurrected at 35 percent with a $5 million exemption -- up from 0 percent this year, but down from the previous 55 percent. The only new cut would be a temporary payroll tax reduction of two percentage points.

The Jihadist Social Network Underworld :: The Investigative Project on Terrorism: "'When are these crusaders gonna realize they can't win?,' Baltimore bomb plotter Antonio Martinez boasted on his Facebook page on August 4th. 'How many more lives are they willing to sacrifice. ALLAHUAKBAR.' As details emerge about the plot to bomb a military recruitment center in Baltimore, MD, one thing is clear—Facebook is having a coming out party as the new go-to place for Jihadi recruitment, radicalization, and planning."

On Sunday, December 5, the Communist Party USA gave awards to a pair of labor leaders and a former state legislator and assistant attorney general.* Among the recipients was Connecticut AFL-CIO head John Olsen, who not only gladly accepted the award, but garnered “loud applause” when he said he stands with CPUSA.

CPUSA’s webzine People’s World reports Olsen was given the award at the Voices for Jobs, Equality & Peace – People’s World Amistad Awards Concert celebrating the 90th anniversary of the CPUSA."

Lesser Known Nuclear Pact With Russia Wins Clearance - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — While President Obama presses the Senate to embrace a new arms control treaty with Russia, another nuclear pact with Moscow cleared its final hurdle on Thursday after more than four years with virtually no notice but potentially significant impact.

An agreement opening the door to greater civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries cleared its final hurdle in Congress and will now take force in what Mr. Obama hopes will be another step toward strengthening the Russian-American rapprochement that has been one of his signature foreign policy goals."

Terrorist to appeals court: life term is too harsh: "RICHMOND, Va. -- The life prison term given to a U.S. man who joined al-Quaida and plotted to assassinate then-President George W. Bush was unreasonably harsh when compared to sentences in comparable terrorism cases, the man's lawyer told a federal appeals court Thursday.

A government attorney countered that U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee properly concluded that Ahmed Abu Ali's case was unique and that his lack of remorse demonstrated that he would be a danger to others if ever released from prison.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from both sides before taking Abu Ali's request for a new sentencing hearing under advisement. The court usually takes a few weeks to rule."

The stimulus-sized package includes about $55 billion worth of short-term tax extensions for businesses and individuals. They cover a host of alternative energy credits, a potential salve for environmentally conscious lawmakers, as well as targeted benefits for everything from the film and television industry to mining companies to rum producers."

Employers like McDonald's, Waffle House and Universal Orlando are among the companies that have received a one-year waiver, allowing them to maintain minimal coverage below the new law's standards.

The list has grown significantly since October, when 30 companies had waivers, and has doubled since early November. Taken together, the companies cover more than 1.5 million people, including 34 unions with more than 140,000 members."

Standing proudly on the side of an English hill, its religious roots go back 2,000 years. But a single night of vandalism has left an ancient site of pilgrimage in splinters.

The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury has been chopped down in what is being seen by some as a deliberately anti-Christian act.

A feature of the skyline surrounding the Somerset town, the tree has been visited by thousands retracing the steps said to have been taken by Joseph of Arimathea, who some say was Jesus’ great uncle.

Police tape surrounds the vandalised Holy Thorn tree on Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury as stunned locals look on. The branches were cut off overnight and a police investigation has been launched

The tree in all its glory before it was hacked apart. Legend says it sprang from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, the man who helped Jesus of the cross. To the right of the tree, in the distance, is Glastonbury Tor

According to legend, Saint Joseph travelled to the spot after Christ was crucified, taking with him the Holy Grail of Arthurian folklore.

Via Greg Hengler. Weiner being abrasive is pretty much the opposite of breaking news, but I am a bit surprised at how subdued MK’s reaction is. One of the reasons Fox viewers love her is her willingness to throw down with the likes of KP; in this case, he’s all but telling her to pipe down and let the grown-up talk and yet she hardly bats an eye. The Megyn Kelly of old would have called him a pencil-neck geek and then cut his mic. Dude, I think she’s going soft.
As for Weiner’s angst over the deal, The One has three problems right now: His base hates the terms of the compromise on the merits, they hate the fact that he didn’t fightfightfight for a better bargain, and of course they hate the fact that they’ll be irrelevant in the House in a few more weeks. Time for the progressive caucus to make a last stand? Maybe!

President George W. Bush, in the 2003 State of the Union address, uttered the infamous '16 words': 'The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.'

Former Ambassador Joe Wilson sprang into action and, in an op-ed piece, in effect wrote, 'No, the Cheney administration sent me to investigate the allegation -- and I found it without merit.'

Put aside that Wilson's CIA-employed wife, not the evil Vice President Dick Cheney -- as Wilson implied -- sent him on the African errand. Put aside that the British still stand by the intelligence on which Bush made the claim. And put aside that the anti-Bush Washington Post, in an editorial, concluded that Wilson had lied about not finding evidence to support the Iraq-in-Africa-for-uranium claim, since he told the CIA the opposite when he reported back from Africa."

Terrorist groups are using Facebook to share operational information and to target, recruit and radicalize members of the general public, according to a Department of Homeland Security report obtained by FoxNews.com.

The DHS report, 'Terrorist Use of Social Networking Sites: Facebook Case Study,' notes while terrorists have been using social networking sites for quite some time, their strategies for exploiting Facebook have evolved and that they have learned 'the inherent value in exploiting a non-ideological medium.'

According to the November report, terrorists and jihadists use Facebook as:"

The survey, conducted Dec. 4-7, finds that 51 percent of respondents think their situation has deteriorated, compared with 35 percent who say they’re doing better. The balance isn’t sure. Americans have grown more downbeat about the country’s future in just the last couple of months, the poll shows. The pessimism cuts across political parties and age groups, and is common to both sexes.

The negative sentiment may cast a pall over the holiday shopping season, according to the poll. A plurality of those surveyed -- 46 percent -- expects to spend less this year than last; only 12 percent anticipate spending more. Holiday sales rose by just under a half percent last year after falling by almost 4 percent in 2008."

One unidentified lawmaker went so far as to mutter “f--- the president” while Rep. Shelley Berkley was defending the package the president negotiated with Republicans. Berkley confirmed the incident, although she declined to name the specific lawmaker.

“It wasn’t loud,” the Nevada Democrat said. “It was just expressing frustration from a very frustrated Member.”"

Let’s review the evidence. President Obama received from Gordon Brown a pen-holder made from the timbers of a Royal Navy anti-slavery vessel, and reciprocated with DVDs. He silkily downgradedthe UK from “our closest ally” to “one of our allies”. He gave the Queen an iPod full of his own speeches. He used the Louisiana oil spill to attack an imaginary company called “British Petroleum” (it has been BP for the past decade, ever since the merger with Amoco gave it as many American as British shareholders). He sent a bust of Winston Churchill back to the British Embassy. He managed, on his visit to West Africa, to refer to the struggle for independence, but not to the Royal Navy’s campaign against slavery. He has refused to acknowledge our presence in Afghanistan in any major speech. He has even come dangerously close to backing Peronist Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands. There’s no getting away from it: Barack Obama doesn’t much like Limeys.

James Madison, Fourth President of the United States and considered the Father of the United States Constitution.

There seems to be a great deal of confusion in Washington DC, especially on the Left side of the aisle, about the revenue surrendered to the federal government through taxation. For some reason, many Democrats – and all Progressives – seem to believe that they have a right to the citizens’ money, for whatever cause, whatever initiative and/or whatever programs they deem necessary. Not only isn’t this even close to the truth, but to believe so is to have a non-functional understanding of the Constitution and the proper limits of government."

“WikiLeaks has yet again flooded the internet with thousands of classified American documents, this time state department cables. More troubling than WikiLeaks' latest revelation of US secrets, however, is the Obama administration's weak, wrong-headed and erratic response. Unfortunately, the administration has acted consistently with its demonstrated unwillingness to assert and defend US interests across a wide range of threats, such as Iran and North Korea, which, ironically, the leaked cables amply document...

... It is not WikiLeaks that ultimately imperils our national security, but the failing Obama administration, which ignores the nature and extent of threats we face, and which is too often unwilling to act to thwart them. While our economic difficulties have dominated the national debate for two years, national security will inevitably again come to the fore, as Americans see the full extent of the devastation left by Obama's policies. That shift cannot come too soon.'”

- John Bolton, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former US ambassador to the United Nations,in a recent commentary.

Publishing Classified Info: A Review of Relevant Statutes | Secrecy News: "“There appears to be no statute that generally proscribes the acquisition or publication of diplomatic cables,” according to a newly updated report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service, “although government employees who disclose such information without proper authority may be subject to prosecution.”

But there is a thicket of statutes, most notably including the Espionage Act, that could conceivably be used to punish unauthorized publication of classified information, such as the massive releases made available by Wikileaks. See “Criminal Prohibitions on the Publication of Classified Defense Information”, December 6, 2010."

"Like many political Americans, right or left or center, I'm still grappling with what President Obama did this week. I'm trying to get a handle on what it means not so much for the country and the economy, but rather for Barack Obama.

On Monday evening came the remarkable announcement by Obama that he had compromised with Republicans on a 'framework' to extend the Bush tax cuts. My take on that action was that Obama was motivated entirely by politics and not at all by ideology."

Media Embrace Economic Hypocrisy During Lame Duck Congress: "As the debate over taxes has heated up during the lame duck session of Congress, the media invariably have failed to ask the tough questions of the Democrats, and are regularly mischaracterizing the positions of the Republicans and trying to keep them on the defensive.

The debate goes something like this: How can the Republicans demand that extending unemployment benefits be paid for, while they don’t demand that “tax cuts for the rich” are paid for? The media are all too eager to side with the Democrats.

President Obama called for PayGo back in June of 2009, and in February of 2010 he signed it into law. He said, upon signing the bill, “Now, Congress will have to pay for what it spends, just like everybody else.” The idea was that in the future, after the so-called stimulus bill, and other large increases in spending without finding offsetting cuts in other programs, any future spending other than entitlements would have to be paid for."

Americans want Congress to bring down a federal budget deficit that many believe is “dangerously out of control,” only under two conditions: minimize the pain and make the rich pay.

The public wants Congress to keep its hands off entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, a Bloomberg National Poll shows. They oppose cuts in most other major domestic programs and defense. They want to maintain subsidies for farmers and tax breaks like the mortgage-interest deduction. And they’re against an increase in the gasoline tax.

LONDON — Britain’s coalition government survived the most serious challenge yet to its austerity plans on Thursday when Parliament narrowly approved a sharp increase in college fees. But violent student protests in central London, including an attack on a car carrying Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, to the theater, provided a stark measure of growing public resistance.

That the word "survived" had to be used in that paragraph is a stark reminder of just how close things are to not surviving "as currently constituted."

Here's the problem with the American perspective (and that in Britain, for that matter): There is no means by which playing "tax the rich" can close the gap.

Here, again, is the budget picture in terms of deficits in dollars:

So let's assume we don't pass the tax cuts for the "rich." Ok, that's $70 billion a year. The gap between revenue and spending is over $1,600 billion.

Fed feels earthquake? Ron Paul to have oversight: "Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, a longtime advocate for plans to end the Federal Reserve's control of U.S. monetary policy, will assume the chairmanship of the Domestic Monetary Policy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services when the 112th Congress begins in January, WND has confirmed.

Michael Steel, press secretary for Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, had told WND that Boehner had no intention of blocking Paul from being subcommittee chairman.

Then today, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Alabama, the chairman-elect of the House Financial Committee, formally appointed Paul to head the monetary policy subcommittee.

The Federal Reserve might have been feeling an earthquake right about that time."

Officials with Life Decisions International say that, over the last few months, more corporations have been dropped from its boycott list in a six-month time period than ever before.

“Generally speaking, between the publications of boycott lists, two or three corporations agree to stop funding Planned Parenthood,” LDI president Douglas Scott explained. “The current list was released in July 2010. So, one would expect that two or three corporations on the July 2010 boycott list will not appear on the December 2010 edition.”

“We cannot say for sure exactly why this is happening, but more corporations have been removed from the boycott list between the July 2010 and December 2010 lists than have ever been dropped in the past,” he added."

DATA PROVE LIBERAL POLICIES ARE BAD FOR THE ECONOMYAmerican Thinker published a succinct research with the economic legacy of a Democrat Congress vs. a Republican Congress.These economic data once again prove the negative consequences of liberal policies.

In the 1990s I was impressed with Sachs, as the then-Harvard professor, toured the world urging former communist and basket case third world economies to adopt free market economic policies.

By the late 1990s I was alarmed. The man I once admired had thrown in with the United Nations.

Jeffrey Sachs is Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease and hunger by the year 2015."

At least 16 activists were on the 27th day of an hunger strike in support of passage of the so-called DREAM Act.

Seen by many as a back door method of achieving amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, the DREAM Act, would offer young people brought illegally to the U.S. by undocumented parents, a path to citizenship if they go to college or enlist in the military for two years.

Huerta’s support is not surprising as America’s largest Marxist organization the D.S.A. has long been campaigning for amnesty in various guises.

Huerta’s fellow D.S.A. honorary chair and SEIU vice president Eliseo Medina is the most influential pro-amnesty activist in the country."

House Democrats Shout, “F the President”—Now, THAT Is a BFD!: "Just two short years ago, Democrats on the far-left, aided and abetted by mainstream media pundits, were heralding the election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency as nothing short of a miracle, one that would usher in an era of economic stability, world peace, political civility, and equal justice.

We were to be blessed with Utopia just as soon as the keys to the White House were extracted from the bumbling, semi-literate, war-mongering George W. Bush and handed over to The One.

The Age of Obama promised to bring healing to a nation battered by partisan rancor, racial strife, and class warfare.

Oops!

Two years later:

Sixty-nine Democrat seats were lost in the 2010 mid-term elections, including the Illinois seat formerly held by Barack Obama;

Recognizing the Revolution: "If you’re feeling the same kind of slight shiver that a house draft sends through the tinsel on your Christmas tree this morning, it’s because the Marxists are here.

It may still be what some call a soft tyranny but the rope is now hovering above the heads of the free people of many lands as the Marxists work to herd unsuspecting populations into One World Government.

America, a beacon to so many, is their prime target in real time because the Republic still stands there after two years of unceasing attack.

Having successfully killed off patriotism in the school room, having completed the long march through all of our institutions, the next move of the Marxists is to cut off communication lines. In other words, the Internet."

Move Over, Baghdad Bob: "Move over Baghdad Bob and make room for White House Bob. Robert Gibbs, the official spokesman for the Obama administration, master of the daily briefings, and quite possibly the biggest dufus to hold the job since Scott McClellan, formerly of the G.W. Bush administration.

It is noteworthy that W’s new book has sold well in excess of the backstabbing McClellan’s version of what occurred while he was press secretary. Happily, Dana Perino, who replaced him now adorns the Fox News Channel.

The infamous Baghdad Bob gained fame during the 2003 invasion of Iraq in which, while U.S. soldiers were occupying one of Saddam’s many palaces, he kept insisting that Saddam’s glorious Republican Guard had the enemy—the U.S.—on the run. I don’t know what happened to him and I don’t much care.

Robert Gibbs is embarrassing to watch. Lately he dismissed the massive WikiLeak data dump of purloined State Department cables as just “some guy with a laptop.” It doesn’t get more moronic than that.

The power hungry tyrants learnt from Copenhagen. They realized that they have a far better chance of success by underselling the expectations and sliding in long impenetrable documents in front of underling bureaucrats. Due to the importance of this I have reproduced Christopher Monckton’s words in full as reported at SPPI (see below).

The UN wants nothing less than 1.5% of our GDP.

That’s $212 billion from the USA every year ($2700 per family of 4).

That’s $32 billion from the UK every year ($2000 per family of 4).

That’s $13 billion from Australia every year ($2400 per family of 4)."

Beginning in 2011, people who pay the income-related Part B premium will also pay an additional income-related Part D premium, known as a monthly adjustment amount. The monthly adjustment amount is not related to the premium of the plan in which such beneficiaries are enrolled, but is based on a percentage of the Base Beneficiary Premium for the year as determined by CMS. Thus, an individual with modified adjusted gross income of $86,000 will have a Part D monthly adjustment amount of $12.00 withheld from his/her check regardless of whether s/he enrolls in a plan with a premium of $14.85 or a premium of $40.

The monthly adjustment amount will be paid directly to Medicare through withholding from Social Security checks. Beneficiaries who pay the Part D monthly adjustment amount will continue to pay their regular Part D premium to the drug plan in which they enroll.

The registry was a key piece of Daley's new gun control platform after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the city's handgun ban in June. The mayor said it would help protect first responders by letting them know what kind of situation they might encounter when they responded to home calls.

'They should have it by now,' Daley said. 'I'll find out why they didn't do that.'

The Police Department issued a statement that said gun-permit records are being entered and 'will be complete in the coming weeks.'

Daley headed out of town

Daley is headed out of town on a pair of trips.

By Thursday, Daley plans to be in Quebec meeting with leaders of the Chicago-based nonprofit Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Seaway Initiative group he helped found in 2004."

Anonymous started attacking Amazon's Web site at 11 a.m. Eastern time, but it appeared to quickly abandon the effort after realizing how little impact it was having, said Paul Mutton, a security analyst at U.K.-based Internet monitoring firm Netcraft.

'The attack didn't seem to make a dent on Amazon.com,' which is not surprising, considering Amazon's network infrastructure, he said. 'The size of [the Anonymous] botnet was not large enough to have any impact.'"

You can see the data from some of the Fed’s emergency lending programs in our interactive [1]. In all, there were 11 programs—a mess of confusing acronyms like AMLF, TALF, PDCF, CPFF and so on [2]—but generally speaking, they were designed to stabilize the economy by enabling financial firms to keep many forms of lending going at a time when credit was hard to come by. Here’s a rundown of what’s come to light from this data so far."

Some Appointees to Oil and Gas Commission Are Industry Execs, Lobbyists - ProPublica: "Joseph Pettey is the owner of Pettey Oilfield Services Inc., and the 2003 Virginia Oil and Gas Festival Man of the Year. Thomas E. Stewart is a third-generation driller who lobbies the government on behalf of energy companies. Both sit on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission [1], which is increasingly positioning itself as an authority on drilling-related issues like hydraulic fracturing [2].

The 38-state commission was created in 1935 to promote the efficient harvesting of oil and gas. Its mission was later expanded to acknowledge the need to protect health, safety and the environment while accomplishing that goal. It is funded by government grants and fees from the states. The commission members are appointed by the member governors. Most are state regulators who oversee gas and oil drilling, but at least seven states have representatives who are either lobbyists or energy executives."

This Congressional Budget Office issue brief describes the economic conditions and budgeting practices that can lead to significant budgetary challenges--often termed fiscal stress--at the local level. The brief also reviews the options available to local governments, state governments, and the federal government for addressing such financial difficulty. Last, the brief examines two options that local governments very rarely use: defaulting on their debt or filing for bankruptcy.Summary

Local governments--including counties, cities, towns, school districts, and special districts--play a significant role in people's lives and in the nation's economy. In 2009, the expenditures of local governments equaled 8.7 percent of gross domestic product, and those governments employed just over 9 percent of the labor force. That year, local governments as a group cut their spending in real (inflation-adjusted) terms. This year and in upcoming years, they expect to constrain spending and services--primarily because of reductions in state aid and falling revenues. In particular, revenues from property taxes are poised to decline to reflect lower property values. To the extent that local governments address budget gaps by reducing spending or raising taxes, such changes will partially counteract the federal government's fiscal support for the economy."

Tax fight puts Schumer at odds with Obama: "President Obama is getting along better than ever with Capitol Hill Republicans. But his relationship with Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer has hit a rough patch."

The newly appointed Senate Democratic "message" guru has emerged as the White House's chief antagonist over the tax cut deal Obama worked out with GOP leaders.

To Schumer (N.Y.), Obama's decision to accept a two-year extension of all the tax cuts enacted by President George W. Bush - even at the highest income levels - is a needless capitulation to resurgent Republicans. Schumer wanted the president to push harder to extend the tax cuts, set to expire at year's end, only for middle-class families.

But to the White House, it is Schumer who is acting recklessly by seeking to wage class warfare with just days left on the legislative calendar, risking the health of the economy and the pocketbook of every middle-class household with his threat to carry the fight into next year.

Boehner promises to cut own budget by 5 percent: "WASHINGTON -- The Republican lawmaker expected to be the next speaker of the House says that one of the first votes the House will take next month will be to cut congressional budgets, including his own, by 5 percent.

Ohio Republican John Boehner says on a '60 Minutes' interview to be aired Sunday on CBS that the budget cuts would save the federal treasury some $25 million to $30 million.

Boehner says that in the age of trillion-dollar deficits, 'we've got to start somewhere and we're going to start there.' The cuts would apply to his own budget and the budgets of House leaders, committees and member allowances."

Despite the setback, senators fighting to end the ban said they would introduce a separate bill to repeal it.

The bill will be cosponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), who often work together on homeland security and defense issues. They said the bill will have bipartisan support.

President Obama expressed disappointment and urged senators to reconsider the National Defense Authorization Act before the end of the lame-duck session."

Sarah Palin Drives Aaron Sorkin Out Of His Ever-Loving Mind | NewsReal Blog: "Maybe this is a little perverse — but I can’t help but admire Sarah Palin’s ability to drive liberals ABSOLUTELY INSANE just by living her life. Imagine if you will, being Sarah Palin. She goes hunting, like millions of other Americans do — like John Kerry did at least once, when he was running for President back in 2004 — and it drives liberals like Aaron Sorkin completely around the bend. Here’s some of what he wrote at the HuffPo about the episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska where she shot a caribou and carved it up for meat with her family,"

The Left has turned viciously on their erstwhile champion Barack Obama. Though kicking and screaming, Obama finally did something that the American people – but not his Leftist base – approved of. He agreed to a two-year extension of the current income tax rates for everyone and concessions on the death tax as part of a compromise package that extended long-term unemployment insurance benefits and other breaks for the lower and middle classes.

Progressive members of the Democratic caucuses in both the House and Senate are balking at going along with the compromise. The self-described socialist Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, called the compromise a “moral outrage” and has threatened a filibuster."

Original vs. revised sections of GAO report on for-profit colleges

On Nov. 30, the Government Accountability Office issued a revised version of a report it had released in August on for-profit colleges. Here is a snapshot of changes that appear to put the colleges in a less harsh light. The report's conclusions were unchanged.

No one in recent memory has ticked off the so-called liberal Hollywood Left more than the mighty huntress herself.

Aaron Sorkin, Hollywood movie and television writer, compares the TLC series Sarah Palin’s Alaska to a snuff film. In a HuffPo attack on the “phony pioneer girl” Sorkin is driven to near madness by a woman who dares to be politically incorrect. After all, PC has been the Left’s weapon of choice in shutting down the opposition.

Now they’ve come up against an Artemis who can shoot game, gut fish, birth a brood and become Governor. But that’s not what makes them go psycho -no, Palin has committed a worst sin against the Left than just being one of those “faux-macho shitheads” that hunt and populate the earth. She has the audacity to talk back.

Sorkin immediately quotes Palin from her Facebook page in his opening; he, like his fake-feminist cohorts do not like women who won’t back down:"

India - Airport Pat-Down Draws Protest - NYTimes.com: "The foreign minister said Thursday that it was unacceptable that the Indian ambassador to the United States was patted down by a security agent at a Mississippi airport, and that he would complain to Washington. The ambassador, Meera Shankar, left, was returning from giving a speech at Mississippi State University last week when she was pulled out of line at the airport and given a pat-down by a female Transportation Security Administration agent."

Morning Bell: There is No Tax Deal | The Foundry: Conservative Policy News.: "On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden reportedly told House Democrats that the tax deal cut with Republicans was a “take it or leave it” proposition that could not be changed. But by last night, after fierce opposition from his leftist base, President Barack Obama was singing a different tune, telling NPR: “My sense is there are going to be discussions between both House and Senate leadership about all the final elements of the package. Keep in mind we didn’t actually write a bill.”

Well now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) has submitted a bill, and it is clear that negotiations are still very much open … at least for the left. Politico reports that in order to buy the votes of Senators Maria Cantwell (D–WA) and Barbara Boxer (D–CA), Reid added cash subsidies for wind and solar corporations that were originally part of Obama’s first failed stimulus. And Senator Tom Harkin (D–IA) was also able to trade his vote for more ethanol subsidies. Other “sweeteners” added to buy leftist Senate votes include subsidies for energy-efficient appliances and mass-transit benefits for employees."

State Department on Gitmo Recidivism Rate: “We actually expected this to happen” | The Weekly Standard: "A State Department spokesman said today that the Obama administration expected that many detainees released or transferred from Guantanamo Bay would return to jihad. The spokesman, P. J. Crowley, made the comments in response to questions about a new report from the Director of National Intelligence that shows the rate of recidivism among former Guantanamo detainees has doubled over the last two years.

Crowley was asked about the numbers this morning in an interview with Martha MacCallum on Fox News:

MACCALLUM: Let me quote the numbers, 13 are dead, 54 are in custody and 83 remain at large. Are we willing to take the chance with those 83, and, more importantly, with the 174, who are still detainees, is it time -- are we in the middle of a war, I guess is the question? Or not?"

WikiLeaks cyberwar: hackers target Paypal - Telegraph: "One of the hackers told the Daily Telegraph they were attacking the website's payment mechanism, and warned that Mastercard 's payment system could be next. The group has previously attacked the websites of Visa, Amazon and Mastercard but has not previously tried to disrupt a payment system.

The hackers decided to attack the Paypal website after it suspended payments to the Wikileaks fundraising account.

The group has previously attacked the websites of Visa, Mastercard and the Swedish government. It has already attacked the websites of Visa, Mastercard and the Swedish government."